Thief wings it away with birds in Christmas Day heist

A thief was caught on CCTV camera carrying out a Christmas Day heist at a popular Sydney wildlife park, escaping with 10 birds including a pair of blue and yellow macaws worth $12,000.

Police believe the offender was extremely familiar with Featherdale Wildlife Park in Doonside and targeted several aviaries containing the valuable birds, which are all microchipped. It is believed the birds may have been stolen for a Christmas gift.

The middle-aged thief is shown on CCTV footage wearing shorts, a hooded jumper and baseball cap as he breaks into the Kildare Road park early on Christmas Day, using bolt cutters to break the locks on the aviaries.

The stolen birds were "carefully targeted", a police spokesman said.

Among the birds stolen were a male and female blue and yellow macaw, each worth $6000. The male had a silver band on its left leg.

Also taken were two red tailed black cockatoos, which are endangered and valued at between $1500 and $2000 each, while six white breasted ground doves were also taken from a separate aviary.

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Kellie Ames, a spokeswoman for Featherdale Wildlife Park, said staff were devastated at the loss of the birds, which had been at the park for several years.

She said the stolen macaws, which were a breeding pair, were extremely intelligent and would say "hello" to visitors who would stop by their aviary.

"The staff came in on Christmas morning and found that a number of the aviaries had been broken into and we were missing some of our most prized birds," she said.

"The macaws are very valued pets to have. They're very intelligent and beautiful animals. We think they have been stolen possibly as a Christmas present.

"We are absolutely devastated by the news. We love our birds, they're very friendly. Visitors used to stop and watch them in the aviaries, and they [the macaws] would say 'Hello'. It's devastating to see that they have been taken."

She said the red tailed black cockatoos, which are mainly found in northern Australia, are endangered. Macaws are native to South America.

Footage from the park's CCTV cameras has been handed to police to examine.

Police believe the thief had a vehicle waiting nearby to escape with the birds. The robbery was not discovered until 4.20am on Christmas Day.

The theft comes six months after two blue and yellow macaws were stolen from a nearby pet shop in Kellyville.

CCTV footage of that robbery at Kellyville Pets in June showed the silhouettes of two men entering the store's aviary and taking the young macaws.

At the time, a spokesman for the pet store, Jes Jonkmans, said there was an online black market for exotic birds.

"There has been a lot of theft ... in recent years. Generally the birds are taken interstate and sold online," Ms Jonkmans said.

"There was a couple of customers and people that we know through the store had their birds stolen just out of their backyards. They can't even have their bird out in the aviary in the backyard because people will jump the fence to steal them."